Sport of the Month

It's not just racing and football on Betfair – we'd like to expand your mind about other sports which can be just as enjoyable and profitable if you know what to look for. Our Irish office has provided this useful guide to their national sports.

Gaelic Games - The Championship on Betfair

The start of summer means only one thing to a Gaelic Games fan – Championship time! The 2007 All Ireland Hurling and Football Championships got underway on May 13th and punters from all four corners of Ireland are looking forward to a summer of live televised action, with betting and trading opportunities galore.

Gaelic Games have always been hugely popular sports to bet on in Ireland and, as with most other sports, the advent of the betting exchange has given the Gaelic Games punter more value, options and freedom than ever before.

We are expecting strong levels of interest in the Gaelic Games markets on Betfair this summer, with more and more non-Irish sports betting fans taking an interest. In order to prepare our punters for the long road ahead, we have put together some information that you might find useful in your quest for profit during the Championships!

Go n'eiri libh!

Do's and Dont's of GAA betting on Betfair

Do

• Your homework on each televised game - check head-to-head records in the League/previous Championships, starting line-ups and injuries, pitch conditions etc.
• Keep an eye on the outright markets even if involved in the in-play markets on a game – there are regularly instances of value in all of these simultaneously.
• Familarise yourself with the Sport and Market rules. Also get familiar with how the Gaelic Games markets are listed on the left menu panel and customise your markets in the ‘My Markets' section if you only want to bet on certain games.
• Use the Irish Sports Forum. If you're a seasoned Gaelic Games punter you'll find a lively debate and a (sometimes frank!) exchange of views on all things Gaelic Games-related. If you're a newbie and are just trying to get a view on the weekend games, you'll find there are a few kind souls who will post a comprehensive preview & review of each weekend's action. You can make constructive comments here too on how we can improve our service and suggest new markets for Betfair to offer. Note: we said constructive...!
• Call the Helpdesk on 1800 944 000 (from Ireland, or 0870 0110 444 from the UK) if you have any queries on the markets – also you can call the Irish Marketing Team on 01-2921444 (Mon-Fri) with more GAA specific questions or suggestions.

Don'ts

• Just ignore a market if the odds you want aren't there - ask for them! That's how and why the exchange works!
• Forget that the Match Odds and Handicap Markets will go in-play when the game starts and is live on TV. Sometimes there is better value to be had in Gaelic Sports (especially Hurling) after the game starts, due to the high scoring and volatile nature of the games.
• Overreact! Where there is value in-play, there is also someone who has blinked too soon.
• Forget that Betfair now offers you a hedging tool on those popular Gaelic Games multiples. We're not in a position to offer Multiples on Gaelic Games right now but there may well be occasions during the Championship season where you'll be in a position to hedge your running-on Multiple, by laying-off on Betfair.
• Forget to tell your friends! The more people betting on the GAA markets on Betfair, the more competitive the markets and the better the odds for everyone. Go to www.referandearn.com to find out more about how both you and your friends can make money by betting on Betfair.

Did you know?

Hurling is Europe's oldest field sport. It's also accepted as one of the top two fastest field sports in the world. Americans like to think that Lacrosse is faster but they've never been to an All Ireland game between Kilkenny and Cork! Incidentally, these two counties have dominated the sport in recent years, and have won the last five All Ireland Championships between them.

Key Dates of the Championship Season

1st July
- Leinster Hurling Championship Final
- Munster Football Championship Final
8th July
- Munster Hurling Championship Final
- Connacht Football Championship Final
15th July
- Leinster Football Championship Final
- Ulster Football Championship Final
5th August
- All Ireland Hurling Championship Semi Final 1
12th August
- All Ireland Hurling Championship Semi Final 2
19th August
- All Ireland Football Championship Semi Final 1
26th August
- All Ireland Football Championship Semi Final 2
11th September
- All Ireland Hurling Championship Final
25th September
- All Ireland Football Championship Final

Markets

Long Term

GAA Football - All Ireland Senior Championship
GAA Hurling - All Ireland Senior Championship
Winning Province, Football & Hurling
Provincial Championship Winners

Match Day Markets

Match Odds (Live matches offered in-play)
Handicaps for Live matches (Live matches in-play)
Specials around high-profile Championship matches, including: Total Points, Total Goals & HT-FT.

Information - Key Websites

GAA (www.gaa.ie) - official website of the GAA and a treasure trove of information, history of the sports and more pertinently fixtures and results. Not many pictures though…shame!

RTE (www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/) - National broadcaster and exclusive broadcaster of live Championship action. GAA section has previews, reviews, fixtures, tables and news. Offers very good match stats (scorers, yellow/red card etc.) also. RTE will regularly live-stream Gaelic Games matches through their website. It's worth keeping an eye out for their schedule on http://www.rte.ie/sport/webcastschedule.html especially if you can't wrestle back the remote control!

Aertel (www.rte.ie/aertel/p240.htm) - Text service on RTE, which offers a good live news and results service. Full weekend previews and reviews and a complete list of forthcoming live TV games.

Hogan Stand (www.hoganstand.com) - Leading GAA magazine - good content, previews and some heavy hitting columnists!

Unison (www.unison.ie) - Online arm of Independent Newspapers so very good editorial and analysis - unfortunately you need to register to access their articles. A hassle even if it's free..!

Irish Examiner (www.irishexaminer.com) - Munster-based, The Irish Examiner dedicates significant resources to its coverage of inter-county and local GAA. Well worth a browse on a Monday.

An Fearr Rua (www.anfearrrua.com) - general interest & satirical site…low on stats, high on witty insight into GAA culture.

Local Radio Stations (www.google.ie) - RTE TV will generally show 2-3 live games per week during the Championship. Outside of those games, the National radio broadcasters such as RTE Radio and Newstalk 106-108FM will offer a comprehensive all round weekend sports service but quite often it's worth searching for the local radio station of the team you're interested in following, on the internet. These stations will regularly broadcast live from their home stadium on match day and many of these stations are now available to listen to online.

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